


A World of Dim Lighting

by Petra1999



Category: Rhett & Link
Genre: First Kiss, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Hotels, Kissing, M/M, Sharing a Bed, no wives no kids au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-16
Updated: 2018-08-16
Packaged: 2019-06-28 07:05:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,605
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15702273
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Petra1999/pseuds/Petra1999
Summary: This wasn't something that friends did, not even in strange we-have-to-share-a-bed moments. It was too late, he'd gone too far to go back, Rhett realized. But he couldn't really feel bad about it. Instead, he knew that the wall was torn down, he had stepped into a new world, a world of Link's chest hair and soft sighs and dim lighting.





	A World of Dim Lighting

The noises of Link using the hotel shower sounded almost like a lullaby to Rhett, who was next to the king-sized bed in the hotel, getting ready to go to sleep. A couple's room had been the only room left, but he didn't mind. He really didn't mind anything at all, not that the traffic outside was irritatingly loud, not that he could hear the toilets of other rooms flushing, not that the summer heat didn't even vanish at night. He was exhausted from a long day, and soon he could slip into bed and get the rest he had been yearning for all day, with the knowledge that his best friend was right there beside him. Nothing else mattered.

There were sounds coming from the bathroom. A humming, a soft whistle. Rhett wished he could just unlock the door and step in, join Link under the cool water, and run his hands over his friend's body without it being weird or scandalous. It wouldn't feel wrong, even though maybe it should, but Rhett has decided that there was no point in denying himself these daydreams anymore.

Rhett already felt like the hotel room was his new home, even though they've only been there for twenty minutes. With Link by his side, anywhere could feel like home. That's no surprise - they've been sharing their living spaces since college, after all. And the small room really did bring back lovely dorm room memories from what felt like lifetimes ago.

He pulled his shirt off and let it drop next to his pile of fresh clothes for the next day. He removed his pants and his socks as well, leaving him in just his briefs. As he reached for his phone to set an alarm for the next morning, the flowing water in the bathroom stopped, and he could hear Link stepping out of the shower.

A few moments later Link unlocked the bathroom door and stepped out, naked except for his underwear, his towel resting on his shoulders.

"Done," Link said needlessly. His hair was still dripping, and there were several damp spots on his grey underwear. Rhett forced himself not to look for more than a second.

Link started drying off his hair. "'You gonna go?" he asked.

"Nah, I'll shower in the morning," Rhett said. "Just kinda want to hit the hay." He set his phone on the nightstand and crawled into bed, the covers somewhere at his knees. He looked up at Link, who let the towel drop right there on the ground, looked at Rhett staring up at him, hesitated for an almost unnoticeable second, and joined Rhett in bed.

Rhett couldn't help but smile when his friend let out a sigh of exhaustion. "Long day, huh?" He inched closer, rolled on his side facing Link, resting his head on his arm.

"Guess so," his friend replied, rubbing his eyes. Then Link let out another sigh and turned to Rhett. "Why are you grinning like that?" he asked, a smile appearing on his own face.

"Don't know," Rhett said. He did, though. Link was so close, and it gave him butterflies in his belly, a feeling he should be used to after decades, but wasn't.

"Well, you're freaking me out," Link joked. He shuffled, trying to find a comfortable position, and ended up stacking Rhett's pillow onto his own and leaning his head against it, so that he could lay on his back but still comfortably look at Rhett.

Rhett didn't intervene. He didn't need his pillow. Hell, he would Link have the whole bed if that was what he wanted. Wait a second - Was that what Link wanted?

"Is this okay?" Rhett asked, gesturing towards the small space between them. Rhett was definitely not entirely on his half of the bed.

Link chuckled. "It's fine, Rhett." He smiled at his friend so genuinely that Rhett's whole stomach seemed to turn over.

"M'kay." Rhett couldn't stop grinning. There Link was, handsome as ever, in a bed with him, soon sleeping next to him, and most of all, Link didn't even mind how close they were. Rhett hoped he would never fall asleep, he didn't want to miss a single second of it.

"So, wanna go to sleep?" Link asked, not waiting for an answer before flipping the light switch. Rhett's eyes needed a few seconds to adjust, and then he saw Link in the soft city light that was shining in from the window, just enough to look into his eyes, but not enough to see how beautiful they were.

Rhett needed a moment to collect himself. Then: "No, not yet." The scene was too perfect to end so abruptly, Rhett thought. And with the light playing with Link's features so magically, he could feel his heart start to beat faster.

"Oh," Link said softly, and reached for the light switch to turn it back on, but Rhett quickly slapped his arm away from it.

"You can leave it off." Rhett tumbled over the words.

"Okay..." Link dragged the word out slowly while lowering his arm again. He sounded confused. Rhett didn't blame him.

"Sorry for being weird," Rhett apologized, and right then he noticed that his hand was still on Link's wrist, even now as Link was resting his hands on his belly. What a beautiful accident. Rhett wanted to move his hand down, tangle his own fingers into Link's, hold hands like love drunk teenagers do. But he kept his hand right there, somewhere between the dangerous areas of holding hands and letting his hand creep up Link's arm towards his naked chest.

The touch didn't go unnoticed by Link either. He stared at Rhett's hand, not moving an inch. Rhett didn't know whether that reaction was good or bad, so he just waited.

It had been at least ten seconds now, which, Rhett thought, was an inappropriately long time for letting his hand rest on Link. Yet 'inappropriate' was exactly what he wanted - to stop dancing around it, to finally show Link what he wanted from this friendship. Except, it could ruin absolutely everything, so Rhett promised himself to pull his arm back on the count of three.

One.

Two.

Three- and he really did pull back, but Link grabbed him, grabbed him so softly that Rhett's hands almost slipped through his friend's fingers, only holding on at the fingertips. And now their fingers were touching, so close to holding each other, which would have been great in one of Rhett's fantasies, but there and then it just sent a shiver down Rhett's back as he realized that he couldn't read the expression that had appeared on Link's face in the dim light.

"Hm?" Rhett hummed, hoping that it was close enough to 'Why do you want me to keep touching you?' so that he wouldn't need to actually say that out loud.

It was, thank god, because Link let out a soft sigh and grabbed Rhett's hand, fully now, putting it back on his belly, before whispering: "Is- Is this okay?"

"It's fine, Link," Rhett copied their earlier conversation. But really, 'fine' wasn't the correct word at all. Amazing, incredible, breathtaking, so _so_ fine with him, yes, that was more like it. But he couldn't say that, could he? I mean, that was weird, right? But what was even weirder was that this didn't feel like a dream to him, but it must have been one. Why would Link, real-life Link, want to hold his hand like this? Why would he stutter like a schoolgirl crushing on a new boy?

Neither of them said anything, but Rhett knew that their moment wasn't over just yet, that it wasn't time to finally go to sleep.

"So, we're just going to hold hands now?" Rhett managed to ask. He tried to sound humorous, but it came out as desperate. Damn it.

"We don't have to," he heard Link say. Rhett felt his friend's fingers curling more into his own, almost as if Link feared Rhett pulling away again.

Rhett didn't want to do that. But he did. He pulled away, leaving Link's soft hand all alone in the dark, just to put his hand right back on Link, on his chest, flat, fingers spread, softly massaging into the short hair. This wasn't something that friends did, not even in strange we-have-to-share-a-bed moments. It was too late, he'd gone too far to go back, Rhett realized. But he couldn't really feel bad about it. Instead, he knew that the wall was torn down, he had stepped into a new world, a world of Link's chest hair and soft sighs and dim lighting. A world in which Rhett moved his arms to Link's neck, softly cupping the side, moving up further to Link's jaw, his cheeks. At that point Rhett had to move to be able to reach, he lifted his head, his upper body, and he swore that that was all he planned to do, even if it wasn't all he wanted to do, but Link apparently thought that there was an ulterior motive to it, because just a blink of an eye later Link was leaning in, his face coming to a halt so close to Rhett's that they were as good as touching, but not really. Link's piercing eyes stared into Rhett's, patiently waiting.

"Oh gosh-" Rhett breathed. This whole mess didn't seem real to him. Link was right there, right there in front of him, waiting for a kiss from nobody but Rhett. So Rhett gave in, closed the space between them, pressed his lips against Link's, tasted his friend. He thought there would be fireworks going off, but there was nothing, nothing but Link's minty taste and his soft lips, nothing but Link's cheek in his hand, pressing against it, begging for something more. It didn't feel like a first kiss was supposed to feel, Rhett realized. It simply felt right, but it also felt familiar, like he - like they - had done it a million times before. A million kisses: so, so much better than fireworks.

And then Rhett realized that he had forgot to breathe, so he forced himself to stop kissing for a moment, pulling back to inhale deeply, looking into Link's eyes that seemed impossibly bright in the dark room.

"Rhett," Link muttered, a faint smile on his lips. It was just a word, but Rhett knew it was a question, asking what was happening and what was going to happen later. The name floated around the room, waiting for a response.

"Link," Rhett answered, simply because he didn't know what else to say, and pressed his lips hard against his friend's, pushing him down into the stack of pillows, holding himself up above him. His leg was touching Link's side, but he wanted to be closer, a lot closer, so he kissed his friend even harder and moved his leg over Link's body, to the man's other side, and lowered his body until there was bare skin against bare skin. Link didn't seem to mind at all. His hips bucked up softly, and he was deepening the kiss. Small moans started bubbling up between their lips, first Link's, then Rhett couldn't keep them in anymore himself. Link was grabbing him too now, a hand on either side of Rhett's face, squishing his face together, in a way that would have been uncomfortable if it had been in any other situation. Rhett, without even stopping to think for a second, started touching Link's body all over: first his shoulder, then lower to his chest, then even lower to his waist. Link was holding onto Rhett as if his life depended on it, pulling him further down every time Rhett seemed to slip away from his grip. But Rhett wasn't going anywhere, not yet, even though he was already thinking about all the places on Link's body he wanted to kiss. As Rhett started to move his hand further south, towards Link's hips, Link let out a breathy laugh that separated their lips for just long enough for him to say, "That tickled".

Rhett chuckled into yet another kiss, the sound transforming from such an innocent laugh into passionate sighs.

Rhett didn't know how far he was allowed to go, and he didn't even know how far he was prepared to go, so he stopped his hand at Link's hips, pressed lovingly, but didn't venture any further. Link's hands slid from Rhett's face to the back of his friend's neck, still pulling him down, even though Rhett couldn't really get any closer.

"It's- okay-," Rhett breathed in-between kisses. "I'm not- going anywhere."

"Well-", Link kissed him one more time before catching his breath, "I'm not taking any chances." He stared at Rhett with a lopsided grin.

"Fair enough," Rhett chuckled, and leaned in for another kiss, but Link stopped him.

"We should- maybe talk," Link said, sounding anxious.

Rhett gulped. "About?" He knew, of course, what there was to talk about.

Link hesitated before answering. "Where is this going? What does it mean?"

"It means that I love you," Rhett answered factually. The fireworks still didn't come. This was just Rhett telling Link something they've both known since they first met. Maybe it meant more now than it did back then. But as Rhett said it, he did not feel nervous, not like someone who had just professed their love to someone.

"I love you too, brother," Link said, and scrunched his face together at the last word. "Rhett," he corrected himself. Rhett didn't say anything, so he continued: "Okay, so that's what it means, but where is it going?"

Rhett thought about that for a moment. He wanted Link more than anything or anyone else in the world, and he wanted him in every way, but maybe that would be a bit too much for now. "I just want to..." he started, but he didn't know how to end his sentence. He wanted to love Link in ways he wasn't allowed to love him before, and he wanted to savour every single second of it. He wanted Link to return that same love, he wanted it to feel like it felt in his fantasy, or better. He wanted to be Link's sun, his ever-loving companion, he wanted to kneel before him with a ring in his hands, he wanted to spend every second of the rest of their lives together, forever, like they swore to each other so many years ago.

"I just want to kiss you," Rhett finally said.

"Oh." Link sounded a bit disappointed and puckered his lips. "Okay." A second passed. "But what about tomorrow? What about when we're back home? What about in the office, on the show?"

"I want to kiss you then, too," Rhett said, knowing full well that it wasn't the answer Link was looking for.

Link sighed. "Rhett, tell me what we are if we keep doing this."

" _If_?"

" _When_ ," Link said. There was a kind of finality in his voice, like he had just decided. It made Rhett's heart flutter.

"We'll be- together?" Rhett guessed, and stared at Link's face to look for any change of expression. Link and him, together? Rhett and Link, that's how it was back in middle school, that's how it was now, that's how it always will be. But why did this feel so different? Why did this feel so much scarier to him?

"Do you want that?" Link asked.

Rhett pressed a soft kiss on his friend's cheek. "Of course, bo."

Link smiled contently. "Good. I want that, too."

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! After reading Rhink fanfictions a few hours a day for a month now, I finally decided to publish my own. I have about three other unfinished ones lying around, and five more ideas, so make sure to comment to motivate me to finish them! :3 Also, please leave kudos if you enjoyed it!


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